The Ipsos Mori Reputation Centre issued an interesting report that summarizes some of their best thinking on reputation. One particular article caught my eye — Building Resiliency Through Advocacy.
The author Natalie Lacey found that it is harder for companies to recover or be “resilient” when there is negative media coverage. Ipsos’ research found that a negative message or event can seriously damage a reputation while a positive message or event sometimes only has a minor impact on a company’s reputation. In the rank order of events, negative coverage such as financial wrongdoing plays a greater negative effect on reputation than negative coverage of poor customer service or product quality. Positive coverage about customer service or quality often makes no difference on a company’s overall reputation. To sum up Lacey’s findings, “About one in five respondents are significantly affected by negative messages–their opinion can shift by more than twenty points. Comparatively, less than ten percent are similarly affected by positive messages.” Negative coverage is twice as bad as good coverage.
Lacey is saying that building a good reputation for innovation or customer excellence or sustainability helps build goodwill which does provide a protective shield or halo. It is important to have in the trust bank. However, when it comes to combating a full assault on reputation, some of this armor is still not enough. Lacey argues that how a company handles negative coverage or crisis is what matters in the end. Perhaps she is saying that leadership in crisis is the defining factor. That I agree with wholeheartedly.
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Ipsos Mori Reputation Centre, negative coverage, overall reputation, Natalie Lacey, innovation, customer service, financial wrongdoing, product quality, leadership, trust bank
